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A New York federal court on Tuesday dismissed a $30m defamation lawsuit from a former Hunter Biden business associate against a Fox News anchor.
In March, Tony Bobulinski sued Jessica Tarlov, one of the hosts of Fox’s The Five, after she said on air that month that Bobulinski’s legal fees to retain lawyer Stefan Passantino had been “paid by a Trump Super PAC,” after Bobulinski testified as part of the House’s inquiries into the Biden family.
The following day, after Bobulinski’s attorneys reached out to say this wasn’t correct, Tarlov issued a clarification on air.
“During an exchange with my colleagues about the hearing I said that Mr. Bobulinski’s lawyers’ fees have been paid by a Trump super PAC as recent as January. What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC,” she said. “I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinski’s legal fees and he denies that they were.”
As one lawmaker noted during the hearing in question, the Save America PAC paid the firm representing Bobulinski $10,000 earlier that year.
After the clarification, Bobulinski continued to assert Tarlov had described him inaccurately and filed suit.
Tuesday’s ruling found that Tarlov could dismiss the complaint and was entitled to legal fees under a novel application of New York’s anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) statute in federal court, a law designed to fend off lawsuits aimed at burdening opponents with excessive legal costs.
“FOX News is pleased with the court’s landmark decision, which not only dismissed Tony Bobulinski and Stefan Passantino’s meritless allegations against Jessica Tarlov, but also marks the first federal court decision to award attorney’s fees under New York’s anti-SLAPP statute,” Fox News said in a statement to The Independent.
The Independent has contacted Bobulinski’s attorney for comment.
In the Tuesday ruling, District Judge J. Paul Oetken found that Bobulinkski hadn’t shown Tarlov’s statements had damaged his reputation, even though the initial one was inaccurate.
The court pointed out that Bobulinski had voluntarily associated himself with Trump in the past, including attending a presidential debate as his guest and hiring a former Trump White House official as his attorney.
“Connecting Bobulinski to the former—and future—democratically elected President of the United States simply cannot be grounds for an average American’s hatred, distrust, or ridicule,” the judge wrote.
